There’s no doubt about it, the holiday’s can be stressful. A 2016 study conducted by MentalHelp found that 31 percent of surveyed college students claimed final exams were the biggest source of their stress. While finals are one stressor, the holidays are yet another during the winter months.
Allison Chambers, a psychologist in the Student Wellness Center said she launched the “Let’s Talk VanCougs!” program on campus in early October to help students during these high stress times feel more comfortable talking through it. These sessions allow students to address their concerns and talk to a professional in a confidential setting.
The Let’s Talk program was developed by Cornell University as a way to reach students who may not come to counseling centers, Chambers explained. “I think the primary concern we’re trying to address certainly is general stress and people feeling overwhelmed.”
WSU Vancouver finals week begins Dec. 10 and is known to be a stressful time for most students, especially for those diagnosed with test anxiety. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, test anxiety is a performance anxiety caused by various stressors, such as fear of failure, lack of preparation or poor test history.
The Yerkes-Dodson law, named after Psychologist Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson. This law indicates that performance increases with various mental arousals, such as novelty, curiosity or stress. However, according to Chambers, this is only true up to a certain point.
“Stress and anxiety keep going to this side [right of the diagram] your performance changes and —to a certain degree—anxiety can get you to peak performance. That’s considered good stress. However, if it gets to this other side [far right] of the curve that’s where it starts impeding our performance” Chambers explained.
One method found to help reduce test anxiety includes mentally visualizing taking the exam. This can be done by taking practice exams in environments similar to the actual exam.
While it is not rare for students to suffer from test anxiety, some students feel the social aspects of the holiday season to be similarly overwhelming.
“Social anxiety is defined as marks of fear anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others,” Chambers said. Social anxiety tends to affect people during group gatherings, however it can also occur in daily one-on-one interactions.
To manage the stress and anxiety of the season, Chambers recommended practicing relaxation techniques, such as square breathing.
Chambers explained the technique as inhaling for four seconds, then exhaling for four seconds, so on until the breathing represents the four edges of a square. She added that utilizing this technique will help regulate breathing and assist in easing anxiety.
Another way to manage stress is through exercise. The wellness center recommends 20 minutes of exercise a day, which has been found to improve concentration and task focus.
The wellness center is available to help students get through the stress of the upcoming weeks. Let’s Talk VanCougs will be held Mondays and Thursdays throughout finals week, until Dec. 13. To set up an appointment in the with Counseling Services contact at (360) 546-9238 or email van.counseling@wsu.edu